Contemplation Amongst Brooms
by crazyidea-inc
Summary: Scorpius and Rose are locked in a broom closet. Neither one is particularly happy about it. Yet, amongst something disgusting and wet and limited space, love struggles to bloom. Really, really struggles. Obvious spoilers, mildly fluffy, some language.


WRITER'S NOTE:

not my best, but i haven't been doing so hot in the writin' department lately. anyhow, don't hold back when and if you review. i know it needs work, but i'm-a gonna need some help! :D

XXX

He is a bad man.

Here she is - nay, here _they _are - locked in a broom closet, and he's seducing her. Well, trying to, at least. Rose Weasley had never really caught on to his none-too-subtle hints that he would like to...well...

He is a bad, evil, bad, bad man.

"When do you think someone is going to notice that we didn't go back to the Common Room?" Rose asks, sounding distinctly annoyed.

"I don't know," Scorpius replies. "And then there's the added bonus of them not knowing where we are. _I_ don't even know where we are."

"Of all the broom closets we had to dodge into to get away from stupid Filch, it had to be the one that A, locked us in, B, is impenetrable to magic and C, is apparently soundproof."

"I blame karma."

"Yeah, well, I blame you."

"_Me_?" Scorpius is outraged. He can practically _smell _her seething. And she smells good. But why blame him?

"You drag me out of my nice warm bed at eleven at night. 'Oh Rose, I found the coolest thing! Let's go _exploring_!" she snaps, irate. "You are so unbelievably _stupid _that you're _stupidness _overwhelmed me and I was induced by your _stupidity _and _now _look at where we are! IN A _STUPID _BROOM CLOSET."

"Thanks," Scorpius responds, irritated. "Just take a nap against the wall, will you? I don't want to spend the next several hours in a broom closet with a bloody grizzly bear."

"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, I am going to eat you," Rose's growl emanates from the darkest bit of blackness, and Scorpius takes the hint and backs down. So far, the whole seducing bit has utterly failed.

Bang goes that plan.

Oh, if his father could see him now.

She's tapping her foot. Just because he's extremely - _extremely _- attracted to her doesn't mean that this doesn't rankle under his skin like nobody's business. One of them is going to end up killing the other.

"So," he offers after a few minutes of silence and the dreadful tapping.

"So, what?" she demands. Ouch.

"I don't taste very good," Scorpius says hastily. He hears her snort, and then something that sounds like an uncomfortable cough. A rustle of clothing.

"Okay, then," she says awkwardly, and he doesn't care how weird this is going to be later, at least she's not roaring at him anymore. Because the girl can roar.

"It _was _cool, though," he says after a silence in which he considered several denouements to this particular predicament, not all of them completely innocent. _You are a bad, bad man._

"What was cool?"

"The thing I wanted to show you."

"You are such a five-year-old, Scorpius."

"Am not!"

A pointed silence. Scorpius concedes to himself that he is, in fact, a five-year-old. But five-year-olds are irresistably cute. So he's got _something _going for him.

"Anyway, Miss I'm-So-Mature, I wanted to show you this room I found."

"You got me out of bed for a room?"

"But not just _any _room. A _magic _room..."

Now instead of seething, she's rolling her eyes. He can tell. He can just tell. After six years of getting the patented Rose Weasley eye-roll, he can sense when she's doing it from a mile away.

"Scorpius, hate to break it to you, but we're at Hogwarts. Hogwarts is a magic castle. So it makes sense that there would be a magic - "

"No, no, no! It was _cool_, okay? It was cool," Scorpius interrupts indignantly.

"Whatever you say, Scorpius." She's not interested. Gah. Story of his life. She was his best friend. He'd watched boyfriend after boyfriend treat her bad and treat her well. But he knew that he was the only one who could treat her right. And yet, if he told her that, she'd laugh. To be honest, he could laugh at it himself.

_Stick to real-life, not Hallmark cards, idiot._

"It was cool," he mutters, dangerously close to whining. Luck is a lady, which explains why he is just never going to get a break with this girl. So he'll damn well whine if he damn well wants to. Yeah.

Eventually he hears her slide down the wall to a sitting position. It's cramped in here - brooms and buckets and something gooey he doesn't want to think about, much less have seeping through his shoes. He shifts and immediately regrets it.

_Ew. What the _hell _is that gloop on my foot?_

"So," he says again. Can he think of nothing else?

"So, what?" Her voice isn't as harsh this time. Now she just sounds tired. But maybe...a little smile. _C'mon Rose. Reach out a bit more. This is the moment. I _know _it is._

"So..."

_Think, man, think! Something clever! Something that will make her realize how truly deep and sensitive you are!_

"...at least we're bonding."

_Smooooooth. _

"Yep. In a broom closet." There is a short pause. "Did I mention that I'm blaming you?"

"You might've."

"Good. Just wanted to make sure we're clear on that point."

"Crystal."

"And when we get out and undoubtedly get caught, I'm still blaming you."

He slides down the wall so his knees fold up to her chest. He sighs audibly, but can't help but notice that whatever his right big toe is touching is not slimy, wet, or stone. It's warm, and he's willing to bet it's Rose's foot. No need to hyperventilate, though.

"It's a foot, for God's sake," he grumbles aloud, and Rose makes a funny noise.

"What?" she asks, and now he's sure he's grinning.

"Oh, nothing," Scorpius says airily while mentally cursing his inability to keep his big mouth shut. "Captain Obvious, at your service." He makes the superhero "duh duh-duh DAAAA!" and she outright laughs. Okay. He'll go with it.

"You're so..."

"So what?"

"I dunno. You're something."

"All right. That's not making me feel paranoid at all." A pause. "Seriously, what?"

"You're funny."

"Oh."

"And you put up with my crap."

"Ah."

"And I think that even though you're really stupid and got us both locked in a broom closet, I'm glad I'm with you and not some other stupid person."

"Well, thank you, Miss Weasley. That may very well be the kindest thing you've ever said to me while simultaneously insulting me."

She laughs again, and he notices the sound is closer than before. Wait. WAIT. That is someone breathing. That is someone breathing next to his nose.

"Hello," he tries, but his voice cracks. _Gaaaah_. He sees a big dark shadow hovering in front of his face.

"Hello," Rose says in a whisper.

"Hi."

"Hi."

"That's my knee, Scorpius."

"Ah. So it is."

"Indeed."

"Glad to have cleared that up."

"As am I, my dear Rosie."

"Don't call me that."

And she kisses him. What provoked this, he doesn't know. Perhaps it was his seduction (doubtful). Perhaps it was karma (once more, doubtful - he's a bad, evil, bad, bad man). Perhaps it's the enigma that is Rose. Whatever it is, he doesn't care. The only thing he's aware of is her lips on his and he's squeezing her tightly and this is so _right_.

"I - can't breathe - Scorpius - "

"Oh - oh sorry!" He relinquishes his hold on her, but she snuggles into his chest. She's shaking, but not with fear or cold or even shock.

She's laughing. _Am I that bad a snogger?_

"Hey, Scorpius...want to know something?" she giggles.

"What?" he asks, attempting to remain cool and aloof and no doubt utterly and miserably failing.

"_I_ locked us in this broom closet."

...

......

.........

"Rose. What. The. Hell."

She's laughing, vibrating next to his chest. It's a nice feeling, to be sure, but still. She yelled at him. She fussed. She snapped. She complained. She even had the gall to blame it all on him. If it weren't pitch-black, he's sure he'd being seeing red. No Malfoy, in Gryffindor or no, ever took being hoodwinked lightly. Least of all by bloody, confounding Rose Weasley.

"And I soundproofed the closet, made sure you couldn't unlock it with magic too. Filch wasn't part of the plan, but it worked all the same."

"Rose." He pauses for effect. "_What_. _The_. _Hell_."

"D'you want to know why I did it?" She's practically bouncing up and down with glee, the she-devil.

"Yes. And it better be good, because I can't see puppy-dog eyes in the dark, you dirty little - "

"Don't finish that." She takes a composing breath, then explodes with giggles again, pitched high and giddy. He's angry, but more confused than anything. She hiccups a little, and sits up, so she's next to him instead of on top of him. Which is okay, he supposes, because he's not happy with her at the moment.

Grr.

"Because I like messing with you, Scorpius," she manages, before laughing again. "And it was the only way we were ever going to get together. You're terribly slow, you know?" And then she absolutely howls.

"I don't like you," Scorpius mutters, but forgiveness comes easily to him, even after being royally duped. Not that she needs to know that. "You owe me for all the trouble you put me through tonight."

"What do I owe you, Scorpius?" she asks amusedly. Well. If she's not going to take him seriously. He finds the sides of her head blindly in the dark, and gives her a good, solid snog. There. That'll teach her.

When they resurface, they're both absolutely gasping like they've run a mile, though she's still giggling and he's still a little miffed.

"I haven't forgiven you yet," Scorpius warns her, but he's grinning in the dark. His Rose-eye-roll senses begin tingling instantly.

"Oh, really?"

It's his turn to be seduced, and so what if he's ready to sit back and enjoy the ride? It's only taken them a good six years, for heaven's sake. It's going to be terribly awkward and weird later - the look on everyone's face when they tell them - but he's prepared to give up his hot bachelor status, he supposes. He's grinning as she plants one on him.

He is a bad man.

XXX

if you've made it this far, surely you can tell me what you think? :)


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